Human World | EarthSky

A Chinese perspective on spring

By Deborah Byrd in Human World | 10 hours ago

In Chinese thought, spring is associated with the direction east, the sunrise direction as Earth spins us toward the beginning of each new day.

Mining the moon

By EarthSky Voices in Human World | Space | 2 days ago

How can the cost of space travel – to and from the moon and possibly to Mars – be reduced? One approach is to mine the moon for necessary resources.

Born in March? Here’s your birthstone

By EarthSky in Human World | 5 days ago

Happy birthday to all you March babies. Your month has 2 birthstones – the aquamarine and the bloodstone.

Why beware the Ides of March?

By EarthSky in Human World | 5 days ago

The Ides of March are March 15. We in modern times probably wouldn’t know about them – or know we’re supposed to beware of them – if it weren’t for William Shakespeare.

Watch right whale and calf interact with dolphins

By Eleanor Imster in Earth | Human World | 1 week ago

Watch an endangered right whale mom and her baby interact with a group of curious dolphins. The video was shot via drone by NOAA researchers.

5 ways life would be better were it always daylight saving time

By EarthSky Voices in Human World | 1 week ago

Welcome to daylight saving time 2019! This researcher argues that we’d be better off if we moved to daylight saving time year-round.

Lurch forward an hour

By Guy Ottewell in Human World | 2 weeks ago

“A squeal of distress will go flying across America … It’s all those clocks, being twisted an hour forward, away from the natural time they were born to show.” Insights on time from astronomer Guy Ottewell, here.

Eclipse shows moon move in reverse

By Eddie Irizarry in Human World | Space | 2 weeks ago

Check out this interesting eclipse of the sun by Earth’s moon on March 6. A NASA spacecraft saw it. During the eclipse, the moon appears to reverse its direction!

Watch SpaceX Crew Dragon splashdown March 8

By Eleanor Imster in Human World | Space | 2 weeks ago

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship will leave the International Space Station and splash down in the Atlantic Ocean on Friday, March 8, 2019. How to watch both events live.

Big bird taking off from a wooden box filled with sticks on a tall pole.

Ospreys’ recovery is global conservation success story

By EarthSky Voices in Earth | Human World | 2 weeks ago

Chemical pollution and hunting pushed ospreys – which are large, hawk-like birds – to the edge of extinction. Now they’ve rebounded and can be spotted worldwide, often nesting on human-made structures.

When is the next leap year?

By Deanna Conners in Earth | Human World | 3 weeks ago

If there were no leap years, eventually February would be a summer month for the Northern Hemisphere. 2019 isn’t a leap year, but 2020 will be.

Want cleaner roadside air? Plant hedges

By Deanna Conners in Earth | Human World | 3 weeks ago

To improve air quality near urban roads, scientists from the Global Centre for Clean Air Research recommend planting hedges that can trap air pollutants.

Green dragon aurora over Iceland

By Paul Scott Anderson in Human World | Today's Image | 3 weeks ago

Do you see the dragon in this green aurora that appeared over Iceland earlier this month? It’s an example of what’s called pareidolia.

Could cockroaches survive a nuclear apocalypse?

By EarthSky Voices in Earth | Human World | 4 weeks ago

Cockroaches have a reputation for resilience, even when it comes to surviving a nuclear bomb and radiation – but will they really outlive us all?

Florescent green aurora. Sky criss-crossed with wires and telephone poles.

Watch: Aurora borealis over HAARP

By Eleanor Imster in Astronomy Essentials | Human World | 4 weeks ago

Never-before-seen footage of night skies over the HAARP antenna array in remote northern Alaska.

A portion of Stonehenge, with massive upright stones and long shadows.

Stonehenge mystery solved?

By Deborah Byrd in Human World | 1 month ago

A new study suggests that Europe’s ancient megaliths, including Stonehenge, might have stemmed from a single hunter-gatherer culture in what’s now northwestern France.

Today in science: Galileo’s birthday

By Daniela Breitman in Human World | 1 month ago

Happy 455th birthday to one of the first modern scientists, Galileo. With the aid of an early telescope, he helped remove Earth from the center of the universe.

Today in science: The Chelyabinsk meteor

By Deborah Byrd in Human World | Space | 1 month ago

On February 15, 2013, a small incoming asteroid created a meteor – brighter than the sun – over Russia. It exploded in the air over the city of Chelyabinsk.

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